Wednesday, October 28, 2015

Saints on the Bayou

“As I grow older, my mind expands. I suspend reality on my canvas with greater confidence,
exploring not just the trees and grass, but also the mysterious and the
mystical.”-George Rodrigue, 2012

(Saints on
the Bayou, 2009 by George Rodrigue, now available as a fine art print; click the photo to enlarge this beautiful late landscape, painted on canvas with water-based oil, 15x30 inches)

From his earliest Landscapes and throughout his paintings of Cajuns, Blue Dogs, and the late figurative works, Bodies, George incorporated
his fascination with Louisiana’s cemeteries into his artwork.

Along with shrimp boats and oak trees, these “Cities of the
Dead” were among his first subjects once he “got serious and abandoned any
thoughts of a real job” (he used to say)--- dedicating his life to painting.

“The tombs seem to float above the ground to reveal the
relationship between living and dead, states which are not that different ---at
least to the Cajuns, who really do live with the dead.”--- George Rodrigue, The Cajuns of George Rodrigue (Oxmoor House, 1976).

This interest in tombs transitioned easily within the Blue Dog Series. The first Blue Dog painting, in fact, includes tomb-like stepping stones, referencing the loup-garou, a mythical Cajun ghost dog or werewolf said to lurk in cemeteries.

(pictured, the first Blue Dog painting, Watch Dog, 1984 by George Rodrigue, 40x30 inches, oil on canvas, full story here-)

In one of his last paintings, He Stopped Loving Her Today, George again visits this motif:

"I wanted to paint a tribute to George Jones," he explained. "I've loved this song for thirty years, and even though I've painted the Blue Dog before on tombs, this one is particularly special, because I reference the woman he loves. Her hat is a remembrance alongside his grave." Read more-

George’s parents were the youngest of a combined twenty-four
siblings.As a result, the young
artist grew up attending funerals.He recalled his mother, devout in her Catholicism, white-washing the
tombs of her parents on All Saints Day in his hometown of New Iberia, Louisiana, and he often helped his father in the
family business, “Rodrigue’s Portable Concrete Burial Vaults.”

South Louisiana’s recurrent flash floods occasionally caused
problems, and in some cases the tombs floated from their plots.Wearing rubber waders and carrying a
sledgehammer, young George knocked the corners from the floating tombs,
sinking them for good.

“I call this painting A
Safe Place Forever" (1984, pictured above), explained George.“When I was a child, a flood swept through the great
Atchafalaya basin, carrying with it everything that wasn’t nailed down or
buried (and you can’t bury much in the swampy bayou).”

“When the
waters receded, I was among the first to discover a large stone casket cradled
in the branches of a huge oak tree.The people in the parish took this as a fearful omen, and so there the
tomb stayed for many weeks, haunting us from its perch.”

(pictured above, Spirits in the Trees, 1992 by George Rodrigue, 33x23 inches, original silkscreen edition of 85; story here-)

Throughout his career, George explored the supernatural in
his artwork.He painted the Cajuns
as though they are ghosts, floating, often without feet, and yet locked into
the landscape and framed by the trees.Cut off at the top, the near-black oak creates interesting shapes
beneath its branches.The small
bright sky represents the hope of a displaced people.

(pictured, The Day We Told Tee Coon Good-bye, 1976 by George Rodrigue, 24x36 inches, oil on canvas; click photo to enlarge-)

Although they live in what should be darkness beneath the
trees, Rodrigue’s figures glow from the inside, illuminated by their spirits
and culture.They are timeless,
mysterious and otherworldly.

In the case of Walking
After Midnight (2004, pictured above), George combined a photograph he took at
voodoo queen Marie Laveau’s tomb at St. Louis Cemetery No. 1 in New Orleans,
with a photograph he took of me, staged before a solid backcloth within his
California studio.In this highly
structured design, he added his signature oak tree, balancing the composition
for both his original painting and, ultimately, the large-scale print currently
on view within “Louisiana Graveyards.”

The painting, as with most of the Bodies canvases, consists
of a flesh-toned, natural nude figure on a black and white background.This enabled George to manipulate the
colors and saturation in his computer before printing the final artwork.The result is some fifty unique images
from the Bodies Series on canvas, paper, and metal, ranging in date from 2003 to 2013 --- many of which reference cemeteries.

“I try to show that the tombs and the people are very much
alike,” explained George. “They both are suspended.They both are painted the same.They both have the same texture, and they both are locked in South
Louisiana.”

Wendy

*Saints on the Bayou (2009), pictured at the top of this
post, is available as a fine art silkscreen, issued November 2015; estate-stamped edition of 250; contact Rodrigue Studio or email info@georgerodrigue.com for details-

-pictured throughout this post:selections from “Louisiana Graveyards,” a unique exhibition
featuring original Rodrigue paintings from 1971-2013, on view through December
19th, 2015 at Rodrigue Studio, New Orleans; details here--please join me, along with George's sons André and Jacques, at Rodrigue Studio New Orleans for a reception honoring George Rodrigue and these unique works; Thursday, December 3rd, 6-8 p.m. RSVP and more information- gus@georgerodrigue.com or (504) 324-9614

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About Me

I was born on a military base and raised in Fort Walton Beach, FL.
Attended Trinity University in San Antonio, TX, majoring in Art History and English, followed by European Art and Architecture in Vienna, Austria, and graduate school at Tulane University in New Orleans.
Worked for the Rodrigue Gallery in New Orleans and later Carmel, CA, beginning in 1991, and married George Rodrigue in 1997.
I've written guest columns for publications including Gambit, Country Roads Magazine, and Louisiana Cultural Vistas. As of 2017 I live between New Orleans, Louisiana and Santa Fe, New Mexico. I work extensively on George Rodrigue exhibitions and publishing projects, and lecture widely on his art.
I remain involved full-time within Rodrigue gallery operations and the George Rodrigue Foundation of the Arts, with an ongoing focus on preserving and enhancing Rodrigue's artistic and philanthropic legacy.
My first solo book, "The Other Side of the Painting" (UL Press), was published October 2013.